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Williamstown Declines to Say Whether U.S. Attorney Sought Pot Agreement

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown's town manager Tuesday declined to comment on whether the town had been subpoenaed for records related to the host community agreement it made with a marijuana retailer that opened earlier this year.
 
Last week, the Boston Globe reported that U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling has subpoenaed records in at least six communities, including Great Barrington, the home of Berkshire County's first pot shop opened since recreational marijuana was legalized in the commonwealth.
 
"On the advice of counsel, 'We are not in a position to confirm or deny receipt of a subpoena. Such information may be available from the US Attorney’s office,' " Williamstown Town Manager Jason Hoch wrote in reply to an email seeking comment.
 
On Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said her office could neither confirm nor deny that any subpoenas had been issued or that an investigation is taking place.
 
The Globe article, dated Monday, Nov. 4, on the paper's online edition, references charges made against the mayor of Fall River, who is accused of, "pressuring four marijuana businesses to pay $575,000 in cash bribes in exchange for city approval."
 
The Fall River mayor has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
 
A member of the state's Cannabis Control Commission told the Globe, "I receive complaints almost every day that the process is out of control."
 
The enabling legislation that created the CCC allows municipalities to require marijuana retailers pay a 3 percent local tax on their annual revenue.
 
"But many communities have side-stepped those limits, seeking additional money while arguing the law doesn't technically prohibit them from requiring separate fees or mandatory 'donations' to local nonprofits in exchange for local approval," the Globe article says. "The payments typically total tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars."
 
According to a draft host community agreement that Hoch presented to the Williamstown Select Board last January, Silver Therapeutics, which operates in the Colonial Plaza on Main Street (Route 2) would pay the town 3 percent of its gross annual revenue for the five-year term of the agreement.
 
Silver Therapeutics also would be required to make a donation of no less than $5,000 per year to a local non-profit "for the purposes of  drug abuse prevention/treatment/education programs."
 
The 3 percent local tax is intended to mitigate the financial impact on the town of hosting a retail pot business, according to the draft of the agreement.
 
"The Town anticipates that, as a result of the Company’s operation of the Establishment, the Town will incur additional expenses and impacts upon its road system, law enforcement, inspectional services, permitting services, administrative services and public health services, in addition to potential additional unforeseen impacts upon the Town," the draft agreement reads.
 
The Select Board did not vote on or sign the host community agreement. The town manager executed the agreement on behalf of the town at some point after the board's review at its Feb. 12, 2019, meeting.
 
The HCA is a requirement for final licensing by the Cannabis Control Commission.
 
Silver Therapeutics opened for business on April 24 of this year.

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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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